Everything About You
by disorderly-being
Summary: What if Angel hadn't been ready to become a father? He flees, not only abandoning his unborn child, but his mission and his friends, too. AU Angel/Buffy the Vampire Slayer Crossover Connor/Dawn pairing
1. one1

Everything About You

Part One

_Beep-beep-beep._

Connor Chase frowned, coming to a stop at the entrance of the high school he'll be attending for the next two years. He adjusted his grip on his backpack and slipped his cell phone out of the back pocket of his jeans. He glanced down at the object, pressing the buttons needed to not only unlock the unit but to get to the received text message.

It was from his older sister and it read:

_'Good Luck!'_

He rolled his eyes, quickly tapping on several keys for his reply:

_'Who needs luck? It's just high school. Several boring hours cooped up inside dull walls.'_

After sending it, he entered the building, his cell phone still in his free hand while his other gripped the strap of his bag, knowing that it wouldn't be long until he received a reply.

_Beep-beep-beep._

No, not long at all. The text message read:

_'Sunnydale High is anything but boring and dull, Connor.'_

And he scoffed, his thumb moving against the keys once again for his reply:

_'I'll have to wait and see that for myself.'_

Not a second after he sent the message, his ears were met with the words of a stranger, "Cell phones aren't allowed inside the building."

Connor looked up, expecting to find a teacher or some other form of an authority figure standing before him, but was surprised to find a young girl, about his age maybe.

"I'm new," he found himself saying to her. "I'm sure that I'll get off with a warning and, hey, that's only if I get caught."

She smiled at him and held out her hand, "Dawn Summers."

"Connor Chase," he replied, gripping her hand with his freed one. The cell phone moved to the hand holding his bag, the device going off once again when he received a new message. He ignored it for the time being, "Would you mind pointing me to the administration office? I was told that I would need to report there on my first day."

Dawn nodded, letting him know that the office was just a few feet ahead and to the right, the door labeled accordingly.

The school bell rang just as he thanked her. He grinned when she said that it was no problem and that she hoped that they would see each other again. And as he watched her walk away, he couldn't help but hope so, too.

_Beep-beep-beep._

Another text message.

He shook his head, turning his attention to his cell phone as he slowly made his way to his destination. The first message was:

_'You won't have to wait long. Trust me.'_

And the second message:

_'Be careful, Con. For me.'_

Both messages were still from his sister and he sighed, knowing that she would know better than he. She had graduated from the same school six years prior, after all. He replied with:

_'I always trust you. And hey, when am I not careful? Anything for my big sis.'_

With the message sent, he quickly switched his cell phone to its silent mode and slipped it back into the back pocket of his jeans. He gave a short knock on the door of the administration office and, not waiting to be called in because he wasn't so sure if he should have knocked in the first place, he pulled the door open and stepped inside.

"Shouldn't you be in class?" the blond woman seated behind the counter asked immediately, watching his every move.

_Harmony Kendall_ the name plate read.

He came to a stop directly in front of her, "It would help if I actually knew what my classes were."

"Excuse me?"

Connor rolled his eyes, his backpack dropped to the floor a breath later and he bent down, unzipping the bag and pulling out his binder. He retrieved the registration papers that were placed inside as well as other necessary documents needed and a photo ID. He dropped them in front of her, "Connor Chase, new student of Sunnydale High."

She stared at him, her facial expression twisting into one of dislike as he spoke.

Annoyed with her lack of helpfulness, he rested his arms on the counter, a sneer creeping to his lips as he leaned in towards her, stopping a couple of inches away, "Listen, Harmony. May I call you Harmony?" He questioned her, but continued on, not giving her the chance to respond to his question, "You have two options here, really.

"Option number one, you can continue to waste my time and stare at me like I'm just going to disappear right before your eyes. I'll walk into the principal's office and let him know just how *well* you're doing your job. Then, we'll just wait and see how much longer you'll actually have this job."

He paused after his threat, wanting his words to sink into her brain, if she even had one, before he straightened his posture and grinned down innocently at her, "Or option number two, you can pull out whatever stick you have shoved up your ass, file my papers, hand me my class schedule, and I can go on with my life and forget about just how useless you are."

Fifteen minutes later, Connor left the office with his class schedule and a story to tell his family once he got home. Walking down the empty hall with his cell phone in hand once again, he keyed in a quick message, sending it out as a mass text:

_'Hoping that this school isn't filled with incompetent people like Harmony.'_

_..._

"I just moved here from Los Angeles," he found himself explaining to his US history classmates. Being the new kid can really suck, Connor thought as he repeated the same string of words he had told in his previous classes. The only advantage he saw this time around was that Dawn seemed to be hanging onto his every word. He smiled inwardly.

"My sister wanted to get away from the craziness that is LA and I'm living with her and her husband since I'm not old enough to have a place of my own. Not that she'd actually let me live by myself even if I was. She's real big on family and staying together and all that. She actually used to go to this school, which was one of the reasons why we moved back. She wanted something familiar."

"You sister wouldn't happen to be Cordelia Chase, would it?" a girl in the back wanted to know.

Connor frowned, "Yeah. Do you know her?"

"Not personally, but I know of her."

"You know of her?" His frown deepened.

"Yeah, she's, like, one of the greatest cheerleaders that ever held a pompom here in Sunnydale High."

His frown disappeared and instead he smirked. He had forgotten that his sister had been a cheerleader. So much had changed from her time in Sunnydale and from the time they had spent living in Los Angeles.

"Cheerleader. Of course. You wouldn't happen to be one, would you?" he asked out of sheer curiosity.

When she had replied with a proud 'yes' and stated in a superior tone that she was one of the youngest co-captains in Sunnydale history, he laughed out loud. The girl scowled.

"As talented as you may think you are, you'll soon realize that the world is bigger than _ra-ra-sis-boom-bah_," he said with a smirk.

Laughter scattered in the classroom, the non-cheerleaders taking no offense to his comment while the cheerleaders glared at him. He was pleased to find that Dawn was part of the non-cheerleading portion of the class.

"And for your information, not only does Cordelia hold the record of being the best cheerleader in Sunnydale, she also holds the record for being _the_ youngest captain. Let that deflate your ego a bit."

Without much else to say, well without getting into any trouble, that is, Connor made his way to the only empty desk in the classroom. That just happened to be next to Dawn. He smiled at her.

"So we meet again."

Dawn smiled back at him, "I hoped we would. Although, I don't think Sarah is thrilled to have to share a class with you."

"Sarah?"

She casually pointed to the still fuming cheerleader at the back of the class.

Connor chuckled, "No, I don't think she is."

"How does the rest of your schedule look?"

He shrugged, taking the piece of paper out of his pocket and handing it to her. She scanned through his classes and gave it back to him with another smile.

"Well, we're stuck with each other again for lunch and seventh period chemistry."

"Lucky me," he replied with a flirtatious smile. She blushed and looked away from him, concentrating on what their teacher was saying. After watching her a moment longer, he turned his attention to the front of the class and did the same.

Sunnydale definitely had its perks.  
_  
_


	2. two2

Everything About You

Part Two

US History was over and done with for the day and it was finally lunch time. Connor's stomach grumbled in protest as he followed Dawn down the hall. He frowned when she walked passed the cafeteria, the young man stopped in front of the entrance and contemplated on whether or not to leave the girl or follow. The smell of food caught his attention and he turned and stepped in the direction of the lunch room. . .

"You're seriously going to ditch me for food?" Dawn questioned him in amusement, the young girl arched a brow at him, her arms crossed over her chest.

Connor stopped and turned his attention to Dawn. He shrugged and offered her a weak smile. "I'm a growing boy," he offered as an explanation.

Dawn laughed and shook her head at him. She walked towards him and quickly grabbed his hand. She pulled him behind her, "Trust me, you don't want to eat there. Cafeteria food is the worst. Especially in Sunnydale."

He rolled his eyes, "I'm sure that it's not that bad-"

"I'm convinced that the cafeteria lady is trying to poison us," Dawn interrupted.

Connor arched a brow and dug his heels into the ground causing Dawn to stop in front of him, no longer able to pull him along. She looked back at him and rolled her eyes at his incredulous look.

She huffed, "I'm not crazy or paranoid, OK? It's just . .trust me, there are some weird things going on in Sunnydale and crazy lunch lady is one of them."

His sister's text messages came to mind and he wondered just what goes on in Sunnydale. . .especially at night. He thought that he really did have to wait and see. "I'll take your word for it," he sighed and she smiled at him, which he returned. Both resumed their walk down the hall, but instead of Connor being dragged behind her, he walked beside her. . .the young teenagers still holding hands.

"So, where are we going, anyway? If you don't mind me asking, that is."

"My sister is a senior," she explained. "We usually hang out in the library and lately Mr. Giles, he's the librarian, by the way, has taken to ordering pizza or bringing in sandwiches for us. There's usually plenty left over so no one would mind that I've brought you along."

Connor shot her an amused grin, "You tell him about your crazy lunch lady theory?"

Dawn ignored him, but a smile was noticeable on her lips. . .as well as a hint of a blush. He grinned to himself and allowed himself to be pull into the library.

Once inside, Connor surveyed the room. Typical high school library, he thought to himself. What wasn't so typical and was very far from ordinary were the various weapons that lay on one of the tables and, he narrowed his eyes at a blond girl, the wooden stake she held in her hand. He arched a brow when the blond hid the stake behind her.

"Dawn," she started and sent the brunette a questioning glare, "what have I said about bringing strangers into the library?"

A slow and amused grin appeared on Connor's features, "I wasn't aware that you owned the library. I've always thought that it was a public building, at least during school hours."

She turned her glare on him and from the corner of his eye he saw Dawn cover a smile with her hand and bend her head down.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Connor," he introduced himself and finally let go of Dawn's hand. He walked deeper into the library and stopped in front of the table filled with weapons, which were now hidden underneath a pile of backpacks and jackets. He rolled his eyes and pulled off one of the jackets and stared at the assortment of weapons in front of him. . .He also ignored the sputtered comments made by the other boy that stood a few feet off to his side. He picked up a crossbow and aimed it at the row of shelves. . .aimed at a spot where the sun from the windows hadn't touched. His finger was held over the trigger and a breath later he pulled it. . .

A grunt of pain was heard from the shadows and Connor smiled. He set the crossbow back down and watched as the blond glared at him in surprise before she rushed to the back of the library. . .towards the general direction that the cry of pain was heard. Connor turned to face Dawn while the others in the library stared at him in surprise.

He shrugged when he found that Dawn also bore a look of surprise, "Where I come from, I'm used to the weird and supernatural-"

"You could have killed him," came the angry voice of the blond.

Connor turned around and watched her return with her arms around a man's waist. She helped him to a chair and he rolled his eyes at her, "Oh, please. . .I didn't shoot to kill the vampire. I figured that if a Slayer-" and he ignored yet another round of gasps that came when he had mentioned a Slayer "-wasn't too worried about having a vampire in the same room, then I wouldn't be bothered with dusting the thing-"

"Him. He's not a thing. . .and you shouldn't have shot him in the first place, he's a good guy!" the blond argued.

"I couldn't be too sure of that," he replied right back.

"You knew that I was the Slayer-"

"*A* Slayer," Connor corrected. "I knew that you were *a* Slayer. . .but I wasn't sure if you were any good, I figured that there was a chance that you just didn't notice."

Her glare hardened and she was ready to speak, but another voice broke into their argument.

"What do you mean by that. . .when you corrected Buffy and said that you knew that she was 'a Slayer'?"

Connor turned away from the blond girl that he figured was Buffy and turned his attention to the older man that stood just in front of the library counter. He also figured that he was the librarian that Dawn had talked about, Mr. Giles. Connor only shrugged at his question.

Mr. Giles sighed and removed his glasses. He took out a piece of cloth from his pocket and began to wipe the lenses of his glasses. He replaced them on his face and stared at Connor, "Are you aware of another Slayer?"

Connor hesitated a second, but then gave a nod of his head. Down, up, and down again. . .He recalled that his sister wasn't the only one to graduate from Sunnydale High School six years prior. Three of her best friends had done so as well.

"What's your last name?" Mr. Giles asked.

Connor cleared his throat, "Chase."

Mr. Giles's eyebrows shot up and a smile crept onto his lips, "Any relation to a Cordelia Chase, by any chance?"

"She's my sister," he replied almost immediately.

And Connor forced himself to not tense up when he heard the almost inaudible whisper of his sister's name pass through the lips of the vampire that he had just wounded. He forced himself to calm down and show no outward reaction. . .very well aware that the vampire's eyes were glued on him. Connor inwardly seethed with anger. . .He had noticed just who the vampire was the moment he and Buffy had stepped out from his hidden perch.

It was the vampire with a soul known as Angelus.

The same vampire that his mother had sired centuries ago. . .and the very same vampire that had left his pregnant mother, his sister, his friends, and the mission when he fled Los Angeles over three years ago.

Connor only wondered if Cordelia was aware of the fact that they weren't the only ones to make the move from Los Angeles to Sunnydale.

Apparently, Connor's M.I.A father had made the move as well.

"I see. . .so, I'll assume that you know Faith, as well," Mr. Giles's voice broke through Connor's thoughts.

And Connor nodded, "Yes, sir. . .and Gwen and Oz, too. I'm sure that you're wondering about them, as well."

The librarian nodded, his smile more pronounced, "How are they, by the way? I haven't much heard from them these passed few years."

Connor reassured him that they were all OK, the young man not wanting to get into much detail about his family due to the current audience. . .mostly due to Angelus, actually.

"That's wonderful, would you mind letting them know that I would love to hear from them. . .when their schedules permit, of course."

Connor was about to nod, but thought of a better idea. He took his cell phone out from his back pocket and moved closer to the librarian. He grabbed hold of a pencil and tore a piece of paper out of the notepad that was also on the counter. He quickly looked through his cell phone's address book and scribbled down a list of phone numbers, "They usually pick up their cell phones, but if it just so happens to be the rare times that they can't. . .just leave a voicemail and they'll be happy to get back to you when they can."

Giles gave a nod and looked through the list of numbers, his eyes fell to Cordelia's in particular. He looked up at Connor, his expression curious, "Do you think Cordelia would mind if I gave her a call now or should I-"

"Now should be fine," Connor interrupted the older man. He shrugged and checked the time that was displayed on his cell phone, "They're probably still getting the house ready, so you might be able to talk to the others, too."

Giles nodded and excused himself. The librarian then retreated into his office. . .which left Connor to contemplate leaving the library when his stomach growled.

Dawn giggled at the sound and Connor smiled at her sheepishly. She waved her over and he followed her to another table, boxes of pizza scattered over its surface. Connor ignored everyone else and grabbed a slice while Dawn quickly did the same.

After his fourth slice of pizza, Connor wiped his mouth clean of the pizza crumbs and sauce and tossed the napkin into the trash can before he picked his head up and eyed Buffy, Angelus, and the two still unnamed students. They stared right back at him.

Dawn cleared her throat and made the introductions while Giles was heard laughing from inside of his office. She pointed to Buffy first, "That's my sister, Buffy. . .That's Angel, her boyfriend-" Connor filed that little tidbit away and made a mental note to mention it to his sister "-and that's Xander and Willow. They're all seniors. . .except for Angel, of course. . .since he's a vampire and all that."

Connor nodded, the young man had long since decided not to acknowledge that Angelus. . .or Angel, as Dawn had called him. . .was his father. He smirked, "That's an interesting concept. . .a Slayer dating a vampire."

Buffy glared at him, "Angel's different, he-"

"Has a soul, yeah. . .I actually knew that already," Connor rolled his eyes. "But, a soul doesn't necessarily make him good. It just means that he has a choice. Like the rest of us."

Buffy's eyes narrowed in suspicion, "How did you know that he has a soul?"

And Connor actually laughed, "If you're usually this suspicious, it's a wonder why you're dating a vampire of all people. . .I'm from LA, where a lot of bad things happen. . .and Angel has something of a reputation there, heard of him before."

"Right, and, what? Are we all supposed to be glad that a vampire is part of our team?"

Connor arched a brow at Xander, "You don't like him?"

Xander snorted, "Is it that obvious?"

Connor grinned. He turned his attention to Angel and he wasn't surprised that he found the vampire staring at him, a pensive look across his features. He chuckled and returned his attention to Xander, "I don't like him, either. In fact, I should have aimed for his heart."

And Xander grinned at the younger boy, "Welcome to the Hellmouth. You and I will get along just fine."


	3. three3

Part Three

Cordelia chewed on the inside of her cheek, her cell phone placed back on top of the kitchen table mere seconds ago. Her call with Sunnydale librarian and Watcher, Rupert Giles, had ended with a promise that she and the rest of the Sunnydale alumni would be at the library shortly after school ended. She let out a breath of air. It wasn't as if she hadn't missed the man because she had, he had played such an important part in her high school life and she respected him and looked up to him as a daughter would look up at a father; her real father had been almost nonexistent in her life, visible only enough to spoil her with materialistic fancies. Giles had been much more. . .

"What's bothering you, sweetheart?"

She smiled at the concerned voice of her husband and her smile only grew when she felt his arms wrapped around her from behind. His lips pressed against the top of her head.

"I was just thinking," she told him, her own arms rested atop his.

"About anything in particular?"

She let out a sigh, "Giles is going to wonder why he never met Connor." She felt her husband give a nod of his head. "He's sixteen years old, Linds. I graduated high school not too long ago, Giles is going to wonder why he never met or even heard of him. In Giles' mind, Connor would have twelve when I graduated. He should have been around, I should have talked more about him. Before today, Giles had never even know Connor existed. What am I going to tell him, babe?"

Lindsey McDonald drew his wife closer and pressed yet another kiss on the top of her head. "You tell him the truth, that's all you can do."

And Cordelia Chase-McDonald could do nothing more but agree. "You're right, of course you are." She turned in his arms, a slight gap between them. "How did I get lucky enough to marry someone as smart as you?"

Lindsey smiled down at her, "Must have been all that good you've done. All the good that you continue to do. And, sweetheart, let me tell you, _I'm_ the lucky soul in this relationship. Before I met you, I was content in turning away from right and wrong, fine with ignoring the horrors that came with working in WolfRam & Hart. . . But then you walked into my life and saved me. Gave me another chance even though I hardly believed I deserved one. Sweetheart, without you, I truly think that I would be dead by now and I thank the Powers That Be every single day for letting you into my life."

"Oh, that's so sweet," came the unexpected voice of the Slayer known as Faith. Lindsey and Cordelia snapped their heads in her direction and Faith smirked, "Stop before I throw up. . .wait, never mind, I just threw up a little in my mouth."

Cordelia rolled her eyes, pressed a quick kiss to Lindsey's lips, and detached herself from him. She reached for her cell phone and waved it at the other woman, "Giles called. Apparently, he's met Connor already. He asked us to stop by the library when the school's closed."

Faith nodded and crossed the kitchen, the Slayer's arms full of groceries which she set down on the kitchen island. Cordelia helping her unpack while Lindsey excused himself to the living room to continue his task of unpacking and moving furniture around alongside their friends Charles Gunn and Daniel Osbourne.

"He ask you about Connor?"

Cordelia shook her head, "No, actually. But I think he's just waiting to ask face to face." She paused and ran a hand through her long, curly locks. "Linds said that I should just tell him the truth."

Faith agreed. "Giles will understand. He knows more about the supernatural than any of us do, aside from maybe Wesley."

"Right. He won't be surprised to learn that more than a year ago, Connor was only a baby. He won't even blink at the fact that we were attacked and Connor and Spike were sucked into a hell dimension before the night was over. And that the next time we saw Connor, he was practically fifteen years old and had just watched his uncle Spike die," Cordelia's words were filled with sarcasm and sadness.

But Faith ignored the sarcasm and nodded her head. "Pretty much."

Cordelia rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, C, Giles will understand. He's seen us through a lot of tough times, this is just another one of those times," she patted her friend's arm in comfort before she turned her attention to the last bag, pulling out bottles of various flavored sports drinks. She looked at her friend once more, "And we can't leave out the fact that Connor's really the son of two vampires, because that is way too important."

"OK, but we're only telling Giles."

Faith looked confused, "Who else is there to tell?"

The corner of Cordelia's lip turned upward, "Sunnydale can't stay unprotected for long; Giles has a new group to watch over."

Faith smirked, "Bet-cha twenty bucks that we're still his favorites. A Slayer, werewolf, and mutant are kind of hard to beat."

"He's got a Slayer and a witch in this batch." Cordelia paused and with a frown said, "He's also got a vampire part-time."

Faith blinked. "You think it's him?"

"Can you think of any other vampire with a soul?"

"There was Spike."

"Yeah, there was."

"And Darla had a soul during the time she was pregnant with Connor."

"Faith-"

The Slayer blew out a frustrated breath, her hands clenching and unclenching into tight fists. She narrowed her eyes as she looked at her best friend, "C, if it's really him. . . I'm going to drive a stake through his undead heart."

Cordelia smirked, "You're going to try."

And Faith nodded. As much as she hated the vampire for just running out on them all those years ago, he was still one of the good guys. "But the second he turns into Angelus, he's dust."

"And we'll all help."

Silence settled over the two before Faith spoke.

"If it's Angel, he's going to say something stupid when he sees you. . ."

Cordelia left hand drifted over her swollen belly, her silver wedding band displayed on her ring finger. "He always says something stupid. It's just how he is. He'll probably just stare and point out the obvious, then brood and bitch once he finds out that I married Lindsey and we're expecting a little girl."

"He left us, he abandoned the team, C. Angel has no right to say a word against what we've done with our lives, what we've done with Connor's life. He gave up that right the night he tucked tail and ran."

Cordelia sighed, "That doesn't make him any less of Connor's father."

Faith scowled, "And that doesn't make what he did right."


	4. four4

**Part Four**

'_Giles asked us to stop by. See you in the library when school lets out.'_

Connor blinked at the text message he had just received and after he decided not to send a reply, he slipped his cell phone back into the back pocket of his jeans. He was worried. Because the door to the librarian's office had been left open, with his heightened senses, he was able to hear their conversation with ease but had tried not to eavesdrop as much as he had really wanted to. Not that he needed to of course, Cordelia usually told him anything he needed to know. But he was a bit surprised that his sister had actually agreed to meet the librarian that soon. They had only gotten into town late yesterday afternoon. He had figured that she had wanted to wait a couple of days, enough to settle down. He was obviously wrong.

The final bell had already rung and Connor made his way down the hall. At a leisurely pace. He was in no rush whatsoever to be getting to the library. He only hoped that Cordelia and the others were there before him, saving him from having to be in the same room with his father without their presence.

Lunch had been uncomfortable to say the least. The entire time he had been there, since he had given his name, Angel's eyes had been on him. He felt the vampire as he studied him and more than likely wondered about him.

Connor fisted his hands. He wanted nothing more than to pummel the vampire.

For leaving him before he was even born. For not being there for him while he grew up.

He also blamed him for losing Spike, his uncle slash grandfather, depending on who you asked. If Angel had been there, maybe his uncle would still be around. Maybe he would have watched Angel die instead of Spike.

If things had been different and Angel had stayed, had acted as a father.

Connor pictured his last moments with Spike. They had been running from one of their stronger adversaries in the violent and demonic dimension known as Quor-Toth when a portal had appeared not far from where they were. And when Connor had gotten close enough he had turned around to smile at his uncle in triumph only for a scream to escape his lips as he watched the demon that was chasing them throw an arm out for Spike. His chest had torn open and the demon's clawed hand flexed before it had pulled it back out. Spike had dropped to his knees, eyes wide and pained.

"Go, you soddin' fool," had been his final words before the demon grabbed the vampire's head in both its hands and yanked it clear off his shoulders. Spike exploded into dust…

And Connor was crying even as he stepped through the portal and dropped back into the lobby of the Hyperion Hotel.

"Hey," Dawn's voice broke him out of his memories.

He shook himself and looked up to find her making her way closer to him. Her expression was concerned.

"What's wrong?" She questioned him and for a moment he was confused until he felt the dampness of his face.

He quickly wiped his tears away. A pink tinge on his cheeks, embarrassed that she had caught him in tears.

"Bad memory," he offered as his answer.

Dawn nodded. She also hadn't pressed the issue.

He cleared his throat, the memory of his uncle still in his mind. He took a moment to gather himself and another moment to replace his uncle with Angel. If only it had been Angel instead… He wasn't able to bring himself to care.

As far as he was concerned, if Angel had died, Spike would still be alive.

The man that had raised him would still be alive…

Connor sighed and turned his attention to Dawn, even managed to smile for her. His smile was even more genuine when she had reached for his hand and gave it a little squeeze.

"How was your first day in Sunnydale?" She asked.

_You mean aside from seeing my father for the first time during my existence?_ Connor thought to himself. He settled for telling her that it was, "OK."

"Nothing compared to the schools in LA, I guess."

Connor shook his head. "I really wouldn't know."

And Dawn frowned at that. "What do you mean? Didn't you go to school in LA?"

"Not really-" Connor tried to come up with an excuse, a story to save himself and keep his secret safe for a while longer. It was safer that way…

"Were you homeschooled?"

_Bingo!_

"Yeah, you could say that. My uncle taught me."

That wasn't exactly a lie, was it? Spike had honestly taught him everything that he knew, about demons, fighting and survival. At least he had taught him that when he had gotten old enough. As a child, Spike had made sure he knew how to read and write, had said that Cordelia wouldn't forgive him if he allowed Connor to be illiterate. And then when he had arrived back in the hotel, Cordelia had made sure he had caught up with everything and knew more than what the average teenager around his age knew.

"That must have been fun." Dawn broke through his thoughts once again.

"It was," he faltered with a word to describe his years in Quor-toth, "interesting."

_Beep-beep-beep_

"That would be yours," Dawn pointed out.

Connor nodded his head and reached for his cell phone. He went over the motions to unlock the unit and get to his received text message.

It was from his brother-in-law, Lindsey:

'_Don't think you should be at the library right this moment. Wondered if you'd want to pick up some food with me?'_

He frowned at the message.

"Bad news?" Dawn asked.

He shook his head. "Not at all, just my brother-in-law." As he spoke, he keyed in his reply:

'_Let me guess, they saw Angel.'_

Lindsey was quick to answer:

'_Got that right, buddy. Gwen even tried to fry his sorry ass.'_

Connor had to chuckle at that and wished that he had been there to witness it. But maybe Gwen was up for a repeat performance…

_Beep-beep-beep_

Another text message from Lindsey:

'_Cordelia wants you away from the library while she tries to smooth things over. That blonde girl seemed ready to kill someone.'_

And Connor sighed. If Cordelia wanted him out of the library, then Connor would respect her wishes.

'_OK already. But please tell me Cordelia hit him at least once!'_

Lindsey replied:

'_Hell yeah, she did! Slapped the taste right out of his mouth because he was stupid enough to tell her I wasn't good enough for her.'_

"That asshole," Connor muttered out loud.

"Excuse me?"

He looked up from his cell phone and shrugged at Dawn. "I uh-" He paused for thought. He kind of figured that there was no harm in telling her. It had after all happened in front of her sister and more than likely Giles, Xander, and Willow were there as well. He shook his head. "Lindsey, that's my sister's husband by the way, just let me knew that they're already in the library. He also told me that Cordelia wants us to grab some food while she tries to settle some things with your sister."

Dawn's face scrunched in confusion. "What kind of things?"

Connor wasn't able to hide his smile when he told her, "She slapped Angel across the face."

"Why would-"

"But that was before or after Gwen decided to electrocute him with 10,000 volts of electricity."

"WHAT? Who's Gwen? She brought a taser to the school?"

He scratched at the back of his neck, "No. It's kind of a long story..." He trailed off.

The entrance to the library was in view and they found that his brother-in-law was standing in front of the door, peeking through the crack created because one of the doors hadn't been closed all the way, one hand clutching a cell phone. Connor cleared his throat and Lindsey jumped in surprise and almost dropped his phone but caught it at the last second. He turned around and tried to look like he hadn't been eavesdropping.

Connor smirked. "There anything interesting going on? A pile of dust lying on the floor by any chance?"

"No to the dust, but-"

_CRASH!_

The trio startled at the sounded of what seemed like someone being tossed onto a table and then the sound of the table subsequently breaking. Screams of protest and angry words soon followed.

Lindsey chuckled. "That was probably Angel, from last I saw anyway. Gunn and Wesley were taking turns while Faith held off that blonde chick."

"Buffy?"

"Is that her name?" Lindsey shrugged.

Connor tried to push himself past his brother-in-law, but Lindsey held on to him.

"I don't think so, buddy. Cordelia wants us to be holding bags of food when we step into that room and I for one am not going to argue with a pregnant woman. I value my parts." He pulled Connor away from the library and turned to look at Dawn while he dragged the boy away. "You're welcome to join us, if you'd like."

Dawn turned down the invitation. "I kind of want to see whatever's going on inside."

Lindsey nodded at that. "OK, but you tell Cordelia that we'll be back in half an hour tops because we're going to have to make another stop. I kind of figure that it's only fair we replace that table or else Giles would be pissed."

Connor wasn't able to stop himself from adding, "Tell them not to kill the vampire until I get back."

Dawn only hoped that he was kidding.

They weren't really going to kill Angel, were they?

And what was the deal with them and Angel, anyway?


End file.
